Bradley Beal is a Phoenix Sun. He’ll be joining the resident superstars, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, with support from young and upcoming center Deandre Ayton. Beal has been waiting, his whole career for an opportunity like this.
Many considered that during his years in Washington, he was unable to showcase his full potential. Similar to the situation James Harden and even Chris Paul is in, Beal is in a do-or-die situation with the 2023 Phoenix Suns.
The Suns’ core now consists of 4 players on Supermax deals. Durant, Booker, and Beal are joined by Deandre Ayton and Cameron Payne as signed for next season, and that quintet combines to make $169.4 million.
That’s a scarce $10.1 million below the projected Super Tax of $179.5 million, with 10 roster spots to fill. This is a scary situation for the Suns’ front office because it’s well-known in the NBA that you must have a deep roster to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Who are the real winners of the Phoenix Suns – Washington Wizards trade?
At first look, this trade doesn’t seem to mark either team as a clear winner. The Suns are receiving an older past his prime star, but the implications of the trade for the Suns are far beyond just the star piece that is Bradley Beal. As for the Wizards, they are receiving somewhat of the same that is aging past his prime star, but in Washington’s case at least they have the cap space to make a big splash in free agency.
Here are the details of the trade:
Suns receive:
- Bradley Beal
Wizards receive:
- Chris Paul
- Landry Shamet
- Multiple second-round picks
- Multiple pick swaps
Suns trade grade: B-
On paper, the Suns seem to have won the trade, and that is correct looking at the trade objectively the Suns did end up with the better player for honestly barely any value. The Suns were already planning to waive Chris Paul and sure Landry Shamet has had some bright moments but in the grand scheme of things the Suns would take Beal over them any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
The real problem for Phoenix lies in the cap space they now possess along with the fact that while it is a formidable big three, it doesn’t seem like one all chalked up to succeed.
The Phoenix Suns are now approximately $16.2M over the luxury tax after matching the offer sheet for Deandre Ayton.
Ayton has a one-year veto on any trades.
Ayton cannot be traded to the Indiana Pacers for one year.
Indiana will have $31.9M in cap space.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 15, 2022
Some would argue we saw a big three with even more talent on the 2021 Brooklyn Nets and see where they ended up, with barely any playoff success to show for it. Throw in the fact that Beal and Durant are significantly older than the 2021 Nets and you start to wonder how good of a deal this was for the Suns, especially with the chain effect that’s about to take place, sticking them with a below-average second unit.
Wizards trade grade: C
The Washington Wizards only made this trade for the sake of Bradley Beal. The franchise couldn’t keep wasting the years of one the best players in their history and it was in their best interest to trade him to a situation where he could chase a ring before the back end years of his career hit. They also receive a more than able point guard in Chris Paul who has proven his mettle time and time again when it comes to leading teams to the playoffs.
The Wizards “are likely to reroute” Chris Paul in a trade and the Clippers are expected to pursue a reunion, per @ChrisBHaynes pic.twitter.com/WrGUTpfd1a
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 18, 2023
Still, there’s no overlooking the fact that the Wizards got fleeced for their generational player. All the reports point to them buying out Paul anyways and letting him hit free agency or using him as trade bait to try and secure some younger talent.